Together for the Rainforest

25.09.2015

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Vestre has invited the artist Cathrine Knudsen to collaborate on its contribution to this year’s TV-aksjonen telethon on NRK on Sunday 18 October. Two Buzz combined tables and benches with unique art motifs signed by the artist are being auctioned off to raise money in support of Rainforest Foundation Norway’s work to save the rainforest in Peru, Brazil, DR Congo and New Guinea in partnership with the people who live there.

Cathrine Knudsen sees it as an honour to decorate Vestre’s furniture and so help focus attention on preserving the vitally important rainforests and what that will mean:
“My art can be viewed as abstract approaches to the movements and structures of nature. I want to communicate them on nature’s own terms,” says Knudsen.

She has painted two different motifs on the tabletops: one with many layers of painted feathers on the surface, the other with layers of maple leaves. Three or four coats of clear varnish have also been applied on top so that the furniture can be left outside all year round – regardless of wind, weather and the changing seasons.

The seasons are a source of inspiration for the artist, especially the continuous process of decay and renewal, with things being worn down and built up at the same time:
“It is poetry, fragility and tranquillity. The delicacy and peace in my works are key and represent an almost poetic reference to the fragility of nature.”

The Buzz combined table and bench, which is intended to be a vehicle for enjoying good company in the urban space, is the work of designer trio Espen Voll, Tore Borgersen & Michael Olofsson. Designed for hanging out with friends and family or meeting new people in different ways, Buzz is a versatile, free-standing combined table and bench, but can also be bolted down. The designers took their inspiration from 60s aesthetics, the moon landing and astronaut Buzz Aldrin – hence the name.

The steel details are made from hot-dip galvanised steel with polyester powder coating in RAL 9002, grey white (lifetime rust warranty, corrosion class C5). The seats are made from certified Scandinavian pine impregnated with linseed oil (net value NOK 16,800 ex VAT). The art motif has been given several coats of clear varnish by Holmen/AB Bilskade represented by CEO Morten Lund. The benches were made at Vestre’s factory at Torsby in Sweden, all the surface treatment was done in Norway, and Vestre will pay carriage.

The pieces of furniture are being auctioned separately in the Blomqvist online auction, and each combined table and bench will come with a framed etching (value NOK 4,900), plus a glass lamp (value NOK 1,800), created by Cathrine Knudsen in collaboration with Hadeland Glassverk, which was launched this September and has already sold out.

With a history going back more than 40 years, the TV-aksjonen telethon has become an important institution in Norway – and living proof of the Norwegian tradition of communal work and community spirit. It is a proud tradition and an embodiment of the joy of giving, solidarity, creativity and entrepreneurship.